According to White House officials, Russia recently launched multiple North Korea-made ballistic missiles at Ukraine, marking the first time North Korea’s latest weaponry has been used in battle. The missiles in question are known to have a range of about 900 km (550 miles), and are believed to be KN-23 and KN-25 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), as suggested by a graphic released by the White House.
Joost Oliemans, an expert on North Korea’s military, stated that images from Ukrainian social media accounts clearly show fragments of the ring housing the control vanes that are characteristic to North Korea’s Hwasong-11 family of missiles, which includes the KN-23 and KN-24.
The KN-24, also powered by solid fuel, mimics the design of the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), and like the KN-23, is designed to evade missile defenses through a flatter trajectory than traditional ballistic missiles. Despite this, the North Koreans may have configured their launchers based on their extensive experience with legacy Soviet equipment, thus potentially reducing the learning curve for Russian crews to operate the imported systems.
There have been claims that North Korean technical advisers may be present in Russia to advise on the use of these systems.
Russia’s acquisition of these missiles has raised questions, especially as North Korea has been under a United Nations arms embargo since 2006. However, South Korean authorities have suggested that North Korea may have supplied SRBMs to Russia as part of a larger arms deal that included anti-tank and anti-air missiles, artillery and mortar shells, rifles, and other military equipment. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have previously denied conducting any arms deals, but have vowed to deepen military relations.
In terms of the benefits for North Korea from this deal, U.S. intelligence suggests that North Korea seeks military assistance from Russia in exchange for the missiles and other armaments, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, and other advanced technologies. Some experts have questioned whether Moscow would be willing to give Pyongyang sensitive military technology, but acknowledge there are numerous areas for the two politically and economically isolated neighbors to cooperate on.
“There are any number of things that Russia and North Korea have discussed as part of their deepening relations, from increasing trade, to setting up joint agricultural zones, to updating North Korea’s antiquated air force, to cooperation on satellites,” said Jenny Town, director of the Stimson Center’s 38 North Program, which studies North Korea.
North Korea may benefit from data on the battlefield performance of its missiles, but it remains uncertain whether Russia will share that. The most valuable data would concern the performance of these missiles against Ukrainian air defense systems, including those supplied by NATO,” said Ankit Panda, of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
(Reporting by Josh Smith. Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington.; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
